Ekathimerini.com The Greek Letter : Demonstrations over rail collision persist for another week and more....

 

Demonstrations over rail collision persist for another week[InTime News] Constantine CapsaskisNewsletter Editor Welcome to the weekly round-up of news by Kathimerini English Edition. The government faced another week of demonstrations over the deadly rail collision at Tempe on February 28 that caused the death of 57 people. Thursday saw a second general strike in as many weeks, called by Greece’s largest labor unions. Across Greece, thousands took to the streets again to protest over the failures of the state mechanism in ensuring adequate safety for the country’s railway system. The largely peaceful demonstrations were marred by several clashes between protesters and riot police officers. Additionally, a preliminary investigation has been ordered after footage emerged of a police tow truck driving at high-speed into dumpsters being wheeled onto the street by protesters. A new chief of police was appointed on Saturday following a meeting of the National Council on National Security, with the outgoing chief criticizing the decisions taken by the government.   Finally, the strikes also led to significant travel disruption as flights were grounded, and ferry services were cancelled since ships remained docked. The government is not out of the woods yet as the Taxi Workers’ Union of Attica has already announced a strike for next week, while university students continue to mobilize and occupy academic buildings across the country. The political world is still trying to manage the fallout from the disaster, with Monday’s meeting of Parliament’s Institutions and Transparency Committee expected to be a heated affair. It remains unclear how the situation will develop and in what way the Tempe collision will impact the upcoming elections. A poll conducted for Skai TV gives ruling New Democracy a lead, however the gap between it and second party SYRIZA has significantly narrowed. Spotlight The Greek National Intelligence Service (EYP) announced that it had uncovered a case of a foreign national living and working in Greece under “deep cover”, that is posing as a Greek citizen. Maria T. as she was referred to by EYP, had been living in Greece since at least 2018 but returned to her country in January. The woman is thought to have arrived in Greece using a counterfeit passport of a South American country before registering a birth certificate that belonged to a stillborn baby from 1991. She was based in the Athens neighborhood of Pangrati and ran a knitwear shop.   Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that the government would raise the minimum wage effective from April 1, the third such increase in just over a year. According to the announcement, the minimum wage will be increased by 9.4% to 780 euros a month. This increase is set to benefit around 600,000 workers. Greece’s largest private-sector labor union, the General Confederation of Workers, stated that the announced increase was not enough to cover basic living needs of minimum-wage workers. It proposed that the minimum wage should be set at 60% of the median salary and accommodate inflation, or specifically 826 euros.

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OPINION Tom EllisEditor-in-Chief, Kathimerini English Edition Priorities of the new President of Cyprus[InTime News] The deepening of cooperation between Cyprus and Greece on a number of fields, and a more direct involvement by the European Union in the efforts to solve the Cyprus problem, seem to be among the immediate priorities of the new Cypriot president. During his first visit to Athens last week, Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, announced the establishment of a High Cooperation Council between the two countries and the intention to form a common front on a range of issues with a special emphasis on shipping and energy. Having in mind a long-term strategy that might transcend Greece’s present political situation, Christodoulides also met in Athens with other major players: foreign minister Dendias, former prime minister Tsipras and the leader of the third largest party Nikos Androulakis. As a career diplomat and former foreign minister the new Cypriot President understands well the international environment and the fact that as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this is a time of increased global sensitivity and opposition to such aggressive actions and all kinds of revisionism. And in this context, the parallelism with Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus is clear. To break the present deadlock on the Cyprus issue, Christodoulides has made it a top priority to secure stronger EU involvement through the appointment of a European personality with the stature and influence that would allow him or her to have a real impact in restarting the process, a strategy he will explore at his first European Council meeting as president later this week. Of course, at the end of the day the key for a solution remains in Ankara, thus the most critical piece of the puzzle will be the intentions of the Turkish leadership after the May 14 elections, whoever wins.

CHART OF THE WEEK

2022 saw a new record for foreign investment in the Greek real estate market at 1.97 billion euros, a 68% increase from the year before. The two main drivers behind this continued growth is Greece’s ‘golden visa’ residence permit scheme, as well as the strong performance of Greece’s short-term letting sector. Additionally, the announced increase of the minimum investment limit to 500,000 euros in certain areas has also led to a flurry of activity as investors seek to buy in before it comes into effect. Indicatively, this January there were 744 applications for residence permits (649 new investors, and 95 renewals) compared to just 177 applications in January 2022 (an increase of 320%).

ESCAPADE Disappearing Monuments – New Project to Protect Historical Sites The newly launched Triquetra project aims to create a framework to safeguard European cultural heritage sites under threat from climate change. Go to article >

ECONOMY IN A NUTSHELL

“The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index continues to fall, in large part due to the prevailing international conditions. Overall, the index closed at 1,020.19 points, down 3.41% from last week and 9.66% from the beginning of the month. Bank shares slid by 4.35%.”

“The first two months of 2023 saw a primary surplus of 4.2 billion euros, significantly exceeding the budget goal of 1.8 billion euros by 2.4 billion. This development was mainly due to increased tax revenues. The primary surplus for the same period in 2022 was 840 million euros.”

“The credit rating agency Moody’s upgraded Greece’s outlook to ‘Positive’ from ‘Stable’ this week, despite maintaining its rating at Ba3, that is three notches below investment grade. It estimated that the Greek economy will see growth of 1.8% in 2023.”

WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA

20/03/2023Parliament investigates rail collision: Three former transport ministers, K. Karamanlis, C. Spirtzis, and M. Chrysochoidis, as well as current Minister of State G. Gerapetritis will attend the Special Parliamentary Committee on Institutions and Transparency to discuss the rail collision at Tempe. 23/03/2023European Summit: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will travel to Brussels to attend the European Council and Euro Summit on the 24th, with Ukraine, energy and the economy all being high on the agenda. Along with Cyprus, Greece may call for more European involvement on the divided island. 25/03/2023Independence Day: Greece will celebrate its Independence Day from the Ottoman Empire with a series of cultural events as well as a military parade in Athens.

Editor's PickWe see the country like Sisyphus, condemned to an uphill battle without ever reaching the summit, the place where it deserves to be with its potential.Alexis PapachelasRead the article

PODCAST

17/03/2023 • 12:29Cooperation between Cyprus and Greece ‘more necessary than ever’Vassilis Nedos, Kathimerini’s diplomatic and defense editor, joins Thanos Davelis to look at the significance of Christodoulides’ visit to Athens, break down whether the lull in Ankara’s aggressive behavior that we are seeing is temporary or here to stay, and look at Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias’ recent trip to Kosovo.

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